Folks: I learned today that Roy "Hoppie" Hopkins W3TWV of Clarks Summit PA is retiring from NTS. Hoppie is 87 years old and has decided to slow down somewhat from his previous undertakings. Hoppie has been a mainstay on NTS circuits in Cycle 2 for a great many years and I doubt there are very many of you who have not had at least one message from him with either ARL Sixty Seven - No Outlet or ARL Forty Seven in the text.
Hoppie picked up his last message today, ironically from me destined for KB3BAA and then informed the net that he would be relinquishing the reins. Hoppie was also a regular on the 3RN.
My suggestion is for each and everyone of us to either draft an NTS message and/or send a card to this gentleman. He has been a tremendous asset to NTS for a long time and will be sorely missed. His unique voice on SSB was instantly recognizable.
As an aside, when I passed the message to him today, it was obvious to me that he was very emotional. he required 3 repeats of the text of an 8-word message, which normally would be gotten on the first try. It goes without saying that it is difficult to write when your glasses are fogged up.
Talk it up among your friends and acquaintances as well, and let the entire amateur NTS community tell Mr Hopkins how valuable he has been to the system.
73,
Glenn